Trans-Siberian Orchestra

The TSO experience is like watching two different shows. I just recently had my first TSO experience on 12/​28/​2015 in Chicago. I can only describe the first half as watching an SNL satirical version of 90’s hair bands meets 70’s dance moves, complete with flashing images of eyeballs and helicopters and a laser show. Add this bizarre narrated tale of what I have interpreted to be a teenage runaway trying to get home for Christmas and is hopping in and out of others’ dreams. I really had no idea what was going on and could only equate it as this must be what it is like to trip on acid. That aside, the «rock opera» music and the singing were outstanding, and with the removal of the story-​telling, the second half of the show was astounding.

Went to the Dec 27 performance in Pittsburgh, and wow it was not what I expected at all. I was hoping for fun and exciting music with some cool effects. What I got was some guy playing piano while flinging his arms all over the place, 3 old guys doing awkward choreography while holding guitars, and some very loud and out of tune singers. A significant part of the concert was some random guy telling a story and there was a long break for them to «introduce» some of the performers right in the middle of the show! We left after 1 ½ hours, the concert was still going on.
DO NOT ATTEND! It’s a waste of money.

I came straight to Unilocal after seeing the TSO this past weekend. The reason I wanted to see how the recent reviews stack up is because I took some friends to TSO for the first time (I have seen them before) and I think the show has lost some of its magic. First and foremost, I love TSO and if you don’t know that it’s a hard rock show (in advance) then you should have done more homework before going. For those of you bashing the musicians — well, I can tell you that you are dead wrong — you simply don’t like the genre and that’s blurring your opinion. TSO has excellent musicians and singers and they are all quite talented in their field. So, the last time I saw TSO prior to this year was probably 5 years ago. Something is definitely «off» from the last time and certainly far from the first time I saw them about a decade ago. Part of the problem is that their most popular album was a Christmas album and I think they must feel pigeonholed given the huge success for that album. I haven’t been keeping up with TSO’s latest work but I can see where some people would be put off by this year’s show. It starts off with a Black Sabbath vibe (I swear they’re using the same pyro stage show that Motley Crue used during their Vegas residency last year.) and the mood is pretty dark. In fact, the beginning doesn’t feel Christmas-​like at all with the fire and weird imagery on the screen. I saw the confusion on many people’s faces around me. Then, when they do insert the well-​known Christmas songs it gets better — but then they go back to a «dungeons and dragons» type theme and that further drives the show a little off kilter. To me TSO is a band that is trying to expand its horizons but their initial success is making it hard for them to «stretch-​out» and try new songs and imagery. I don’t think they want to keep playing the Christmas stuff over and over — but unfortunately, that’s what most people expect. I agree with some of the other reviews that the whole storytelling aspect has become cheesy. Not sure what the solution is but I get the negative reviews for sure. Personally, I love hard rock, and the stage show is pretty damn impressive, but I also love Christmas and would prefer the show from 10 years ago than what I witnessed this past weekend.

I must agree with the acurate reviews that the «storyline» sucks. So so bad, play the songs and just let it rip ‘Tatar chip’. We left early and have NEVER done this, especially at the price of tickets. Save your money, you’ll feel disappointed and broke.

Went to their Christmas performance here in Las Vegas some years ago. Have always loved hearing their classics such as «Wizards in Winter» on the radio. Wife and I thought «what better way to celebrate the holiday season» than to see them live in concert. Wow. What a mistake we made.
First of all, their performance is LONG. The first half, had we made it through, was about 90 minutes, and tells a «Christmas story» complete with characters portraying a seasonal tale about hope and joy. Only it was absolutely HORRIBLE and our only hope and joy was to leave the concert about one hour into it. (Side note: My wife and I are musicians; we know what quality in a live performance is). As others have noted, the performers are reminiscent of a bad 80s hair band, the light effects are painful because the spots often point directly into the audiences’ eyes, and volume is WAY too loud, and the performers HORRIBLE singers.
We were among literally HUNDREDS of audience members who walked out during the first half; we found out later that they only perform their classics on the second half, after the intermission. Nothing could have made us stay that long.
We also learned, at a later date, that TSO has two travelling shows that perform simultaneously in different parts of the country. I concede it’s possible that we saw the «B» band, but regardless, this was a learning experience for us; we learned not to see them in a live performance!
I do have many friends who love their live show, so they do have an appeal to certain people. We are not among that group.

Wow, excruciatingly awful. Over-​dramatized awful renditions of Christmas songs. Reminded me of the worst hair bands of the 80s. Too loud, and way too corny. We left after the first half, couldn’t stand another minute. Hard to believe so many people like them. Then again, people like crappy music. Never again.

We saw this band last night in Jacksonville, FL. You have been warned… do NOT take your wife/​girlfriend to this supposed Xmas concert as her Xmas gift, unless you Want her to be Sad or you seek a divorce. Wasted $ 300. (Dinner prior to the show was the best part of the night.) Here is why: 1. Cell phone video phones will be held up around you (in mass quantities) the entire time, so you can’t see! 2. The Xmas video storyline is dull, cheesy, boring. 3. The light show is cool in the beginning, but quickly becomes WAY WAY overkill (again, cell phones blocking all views). 3. The big hair swings & constant «fist pumps» are annoying. 4. The band consists of two guitarists that own & dominate the entire orchestra groups. These guitarists will not allow you to hear any solos by the others (probably great) musicians in the group, such as the electric violinist or the keyboard players, etc. Oh no, the guitarists must dominate & control, with their constant LOUD power cords. 5. When you hear there is an orchestra, you expect to be able to hear some of the awesome talented musicians playing varied instruments. Not here, the guitar players, probably the originators of the group won’t let you. 6. This is not a Xmas concert. It is not an Xmas gift to give to loved ones. Read the bad reviews first. The only thing that saved the concert was the incredible blond female singer, who was allowed to do a few solos. Other than that, dont waste your money, or time!

Wow, what harsh words from what is obviously the few. Standing ovations, 2 ½ hour show, great vocalists, tremendous special effects. You should have done your homework before going — Wiki says they are a combo of Yes, and Queen meet Broadway and I even add Super Tramp in. Not a group of hymns presented in the traditional fashion. Yes, lots of big hair — it is a rock band, but also lots of ladies loving it! This was not a Christmas recital that you would see in church — it was a rock show with a Christmas flair. Stay home next year — vote with your wallet and let the rest of us go enjoy the show. BTW that blonde lady singer had one of the most powerful voices I have heard in years — better than many others who sell millions of CDs.

Stay Away! These are not the musicians that in earlier years graced the world with angelic children singing Christmas prayers to Pachelbel’s Canon in D. This is a show in which the musicians spend more time turning their heads to throw their hair over their shoulder than listening to the balance between the limited orchestra and their instruments and voices. Even the light show could not make up for the sophomoric performance. We fled midway through the performance when it was clear that a grade school concert would have more musical value. What a waste of time and money.

It was… unforgettable. But not for anything awesome. Corny, hair-​metal, creepy, dark, sorta Christmas-​ish, stage show with hair whipping, lasers, flames, tigers and dragons. (Yes. Dragons) Sounds like it should be a giant stocking stuffed with awesome. Yeah… not so much. That said, you’ll be talking about this mess for years to come.

I seriously don’t get all of the negative reviews! I love this show! There were TONS of Christmas songs (I was nervous that there wouldn’t be based on the reviews), some awesome solos, a sweet lazer show and pretty cool special effects (yes, some were a bit corny, but that’s part of the fun!). This was my first time ever seeing TSO and I would definitely make it a yearly tradition. The tickets are pricey if you buy them direct but if you keep an eye out for deals, it’s definitely worth it! They also give a portion of the sales to charity — and this year they gave to AAWL which is a great animal welfare charity.

This «concert» was so bad that I actually felt the need to write a review. If you are looking for a nice «Christmasy» show then this is not for you. If you are looking for a bunch of washed up wanna be 80’s hair band rockers who weren’t good enough to make it in the 80’s so they found a niche convincing people that they did good Christmas music then YOU ARE IN LUCK! Like everyone else my wife and I know the two TSO songs that you hear every year on the radio. They are nice Christmas songs so we thought this may be a good holiday experience. Boy were we wrong! I wish I had done more research and realized that this was nothing more than a corny rock opera by people with decent electric guitar skills and below average vocals. I don’t think one of the singers of this POS could turn a chair on the voice. Even my wife, who is in love with crappy 80’s hair bands wanted to leave after the first 15 minutes. Complete trash. Even the 2 decent songs you hear of theirs on the radio are butchered in the live performance. There is more hair flipping in this show then in a Poison concert! The costumes resemble that of Transylvania style with the narrator taking the role of Dracula. Its basically Twilight meets This is Spinal Tap minus the awesomeness of Spinal Tap and overload the crappiness of Twilight. All in all, its shit. Don’t waste your money on this!

This is our first time seeing the TSO. After reading the previous reviews I’m thinking this year’s show while a tad cheesy, definitely had a nice Christmasy feel. That is until the end. Or rather what we thought was the end. After lengthy acknowledgements, they went on to play «a couple «(four actually) new songs. One featured fiery dragons which went way long and took away my warm fuzzy feeling I had when their Christmas story ended. Then the female vocalist sang a beautiful song and the warm and fuzziness returned. Until
she went into this metal thing that didn’t suit her. Ugh ! Then the make vocalist sang a very pretty song and it could have ended there. Nope another rather harsh song. The visual effects, Christmas themed story and related music were great. Four stars because they really should quit while they are ahead.

We have always loved the Christmas Cannon song and when you hear it… it sounds like a true orchestra song. Well that is what we were expecting and it isn’t that at all. It’s super cheesy and corny. We walked out on $ 100 seats. We were extremely disappointed.

Cheesy!!! You have got to be kidding me! Christmas music was the farthest thing from this show. Don’t let the advertising fool you, there are only 3 songs that have a Christmas theme and they play in the commercial. Loud, Loud, Loud. It reminded us of a Big Hair Band that was stuck in the 80’s. Animated white tigers and dragons were never part of our holiday memories and we’re in our 50’s. We walked out midway only hoping it would get better. As we walked out many others were way ahead of us. We wish we could get our money back. It felt like we were violated in front of all of those people. Oh! And let’s not forget the 6 girls dressed in black swinging their hair like a cage dancer! Santa definitely lost some HO’s…ugh

I saw the show a couple years ado. It was awful. Slow and dragged on and on. Most boring «Christmas» show ever! I wanted to walk out.

Ditto what the other reviewers said about the boring storyline and crazy 80’s metal music. It was so cheesy that it felt more like a comedy show. We left after the first hour.

I didn’t see many local listings so this seems the best place for a review.
If you’re a fan of Siegfried & Roy, a Webster Hall Rave, spiked ecstasy, old Whitesnake videos, cheap giant cardboard props, unqualified LASIK surgery, obscure Christian rock power ballads by middle-​aged paunchy dudes, pyrotechnic sunburns, oddly timed redundant narration, and/​or movie magician Burt Wonderstone, well then… THIS is the show for you.

The «new show» with giant toy box set design and new music was a disappointment. In previous years the music has gotten one in the Christmas spirit. Not so this year. Music was a disappointment, storyline was not interesting. They do not showcase the talent in the new show. The women appear to be objects to view. In past years their talented voices were shared. Will not attend in the future. Save your money.

Beyond awful. Slow. Boring. Not even great singers? I fell asleep to a guy droning on and on and on about some lame and cheesy «Christmas story». I left early– thank The Lord!!! What a waste of money. So bad it was funny. Seriously, don’t bother.